Many parents are concerned that the Internet gives easy access to bigotry and prejudice. ADL HateFilter^® is designed to empower parents who want to restrict their children's access to hate sites.

Hate sites are those sites on the Internet operated by individuals or groups that, in ADL’s judgment, promote hatred or hostility towards groups -- Jews and others -- on the basis of their religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other immutable characteristics.

Drawing upon ADL's 89 years experience in fighting hate, ADL's experts evaluate each site. Filtering is done on the basis of the Web address of the site.

No. ADL HateFilter^® does not interfere with any individual or group’s ability to create a web site, regardless of that site’s content. What ADL HateFilter^® serves as a gatekeeper, available on a voluntary basis to consumers who do not want hate sites coming into their homes.

When an individual using a computer on which ADL HateFilter^® is activated tries to view a hate site, access is blocked. Instead, the user sees a message stating that access to the site has been blocked by the ADL template.

Yes. ADL HateFilter^® is very flexible. When the parent or other adult who installed the ADL HateFilter^® is using the Internet, he or she can turn the filter off by using his or her master password. Parents or other adults can also access hate sites without turning the filter off. When the user tries to access a Web page that the filter has been instructed to block, he or she then has ten seconds to enter the override password, which prevents the filter from blocking that page. A user of ADL HateFilter^® can also set up a different, password-protected set of filtering rules for each user of his or her computer. For example, parents can configure HateFilter so that their passwords allow them to access hate sites and give their children passwords that do not allow them access to hate sites.

Hate on the Internet is a moving target. New sites are established and old ones become inactive. A number of factors can have an impact on the accuracy of filtering. As a result, ADL HateFilter^® will be updated regularly. Our goal is to block every hate site on the World Wide Web. While ADL will make its best efforts to identify hate sites, it cannot guarantee the completeness of its identification of objectionable sites, and assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.

No. According to one of the nation’s most prominent free speech experts, New York attorney Floyd Abrams, such voluntary filters do not violate anyone’s First Amendment rights. On ABC's "Nightline" program, Mr. Abrams stated: "I think the place where [a hater] can be blocked, if we choose to, is at our doorsteps via blocking devices… We let people have their say. But we don’t make people listen and we do allow them to find a way to protect their kids from these views."

ADL HateFilter^® is consistent with ADL’s traditional view. It does not seek to prohibit hate speech on the Internet, which ADL will continue to monitor and document through publications and material available on the ADL web site. However, ADL HateFilter^® recognizes that the Internet is different from libraries and bookstores, where material can be labeled and organized in a way which enables parents to exercise discretion about what their children see. ADL HateFilter^® is an attempt to give parents the ability to exercise similar discretion over the Internet.

ADL HateFilter^® limits itself ONLY to hate sites. However, ADL HateFilter^® has all of the features of ICRAfilter, a powerful filtering software program that can block access to pornographic, violent, and other online content that parents may find unsuitable for children. Users of ADL HateFilter^® have the option of using other content filters in addition to using the ADL HateFilter^® template, which blocks access only to the ADL HateFilter^® list of hate sites. ADL is responsible ONLY for judgments reflected in the ADL HateFilter^® template and is not responsible for the result of any "Block" or "Allow" choices made by you, the user of the program, in the "Rules," "Lists," or "Services" sections of the Control screen. In addition, ADL is responsible only for the selection of sites that are filtered by the ADL template and updated versions of this template. ADL is not responsible for filtering caused by any other template you choose to install and activate. For information about configuring HateFilter, please see "Setting Up HateFilter^®".

ADL HateFilter® has an extensive "Help" section. Most questions will be answered by the information in this "Help" section, but if you do not find the answer you are looking for, you can e-mail ADL for assistance. If you contact ADL, please include the following information: your operating system (Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 etc.), your browser & version (Internet Explorer 5.5, Netscape 4.7, etc.), the exact details of the problem, and information about how to contact you. You should receive a response from ADL within five business days. Telephone support is not available.

Yes. On the HateFilter^® download page, there is a self-executing file that will install the ADL HateFilter^® template into the ICRAfilter program you are currently running on your computer.

ADL HateFilter^® is free. All updates to the ADL HateFilter^® template, which contains the ADL HateFilter^® list of hate sites, will be available for free as well.